Dog Food For Chairs

Star Wars Forcibly Awakened

I’m not entirely sure how to look at this film. (Except that this post will be without spoilers)

Peru 2014 Day 7: June 29- Old Peruvian Market and Wine

Peru 2014 Index

Christmas Village 2015

A Yule Time Ago in Galaxy Far Far Away

I Have a Very Festive Feeling About This

This year, I decided to respect the sanctity of the holiday and only have the utterly traditional Christmas Village my daughter set up complete with custom light up tree.

Isn’t it lovely?

Peru 2014 Day 6: June 28- Slow Day but Ended Late

A.K.A. The Review

Jessica Jones is the second "Defenders" series on Netflix in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I maintain my stance against binge watching, and believe it to be highly justified in this case. There were many events and decisions in this series worth ruminating about in my noggin for a day between episodes. I’m all done now, so here’s the information for the few poor souls out there who actually follow my recommendations on super hero viewing. I think I’m avoiding spoilers, but it’s hard to be sure since I consider much of these universes common knowledge due to my bucket like head. No major spoilers anyway.

Here’s an analogy that’s sure to be on the N.A.T. (Nerd Aptitude Test)

Jessica Jones is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Torchwood is to Doctor Who.

Peru 2014 Day 5: June 27- Oceanside Restaurant Heaven

Bondlets: Octopussy

1983

Peru 2014 Day 4: June 26- Some Cool Monkey Tricks

When the Bucket is Recognized

After obtaining an advanced engineering degree and accumulating over two decades of experience designing, testing and analyzing risk on medical devices, it was fulfilling to learn that my friends value my knowledge and opinions, and do not hesitate to ask for them in times of need.

Because I try to live up to their respect, I always perform research into the key details before answering.

In that spirit, I present the full answer to a question I was tagged in on-line recently.

“OK guys. Serious question here…

I ask Jeff McGinley to give some input…

Will a Jedi lightsaber cut Captain America's shield?”

Hey, I was “Captain Continuity” long before I touched any medical device.

Peru 2014 Day 3: June 25th- Great Seafood’s no Myth

Click here for the explanation of this foolishness

I started the day by getting in trouble at breakfast, which was totally not my fault.

Look Before you LARP

The first party added to the mathematical education of the day, by highlighting issues with non-normal distributions and statistical outliers.

The adventurers heading our way were an average of fifth level, and we were given appropriate skills, damage and a couple special attacks to match them. Armed and packed with a few Stuns and Slays we met the group…and determined almost immediately there would be no need to lead them to anyone else.

Peru 2014: Day 2 June 24th- Differences from the North

Show Us Your LARP!

I started playing Dungeons and Dragons in the fifth grade.

Once I figured out that Hobgoblins being “giant goblins” did not mean they were twenty foot tall knobby kneed, googly eyed, sneaker wearing mops demanding our adventuring party give them, “FRENCH FRIES!” it became a regular part of my life.

Once my parents realized it was all storytelling in our head and I did not, in fact, fall twenty feet off a ladder to be caught by a much smaller and scrawnier friend (I was playing a Halfling.) they were quite supportive.

Peru 2014 Day 1: June 23rd- We Fly Like a Bird

This trip was a long time in coming.

Visiting my homeland was always easy and frequent. Depending on bridge traffic, an hour or so jaunt put us at the Bronx Zoo.

As for returning to Rosa’s homeland of Peru, Anabelle had never been, and discounting a medical emergency trip a year before this one (many aspects of which would be happily forgotten) Rosa hadn’t been back since before we were married. My only trip there to visit her was a couple of months before her official cross continental move.

Clearly a trip south was overdue. Rosa’s mom (Abuelita) hadn’t been up to visit us in a while either. She came to stay for well over a month, forming stronger bonds with her - now far more fluent in Spanish- granddaughter. Note that her Hijo-in-law was still almost completely non-fluent, sucking at languages as he does. However, that didn’t keep the two of them from getting along swimmingly, through a large amount of comprehension he’d absorbed through osmosis, and general random gesturing.

Tops on a Scale of One to Tenor

My Nth cousin Xce removed Bobby Conte-Thornton’s rapidly rising star recently brought him to the illustrious McCarter Theater in Princeton.

I still don’t have much clue about the world of plays. I’m using “illustrious” based on the two Tony’s they have in the lobby, not any personal experience. The only acts I’ve seen there are New Wave A Capella singing group The Bobs (who I’ve also seen in a small church, and an artsy-folksy coffee house type restaurant) and the original line up of juggling legends the Flying Karamazov Brothers. (Sadly, jugglers never make a joint illustrious.)

500 Post Odyssey

Made it to the big FIVE HUNDREDTH POST!!!!!!!!

Bah, sleep is for the weak.

For past anniversaries, I've used the occasion to start a new topic, or provide an index to an adventure.

That would have been a fantastic idea...

But I can't count..

Since the first Peru Trip for our family index went up last week, I'll turn to another tried and true method for being lazy:

Turning the reins over to my daughter.

They're reading the "Middle School" version of the Odyssey called Ulysses and were assigned to come up with another adventure for it's hero.

And here it is!

The Horror of Out of Date Equipment

Admittedly, this is a lame excuse for a Halloween themed post, but by the end of the story, someone was truly scared.

For the purists in the crowd, here’s a couple of quick vampire reviews:

Peru June and July 2014 Trip Index

These are some long overdue tales from a long overdue trip.

I-A-Go on Broadway

This year, for our daughter’s twelfth birthday, we planned ahead instead of waiting until the last minute and trying to find discount theater tickets. Not that that method hasn’t ended up working out astonishingly well for us in the past.

The combination of her love of the source material and her appearing in the Junior version last spring led us to choose Aladdin for our destination on the great white way.

Short Treks- To Boldly Stop

I originally intended to keep going after the original cast movies, to review their guest appearances and the hand off to the reboot films.

I also intended this whole Short Treks excursion to be well under a dozen posts and nowhere near sixty-seven-thousand words and taking an close to an entire year on the blog. Boy, if I had half a brain I would have started later and used it for the 50th Anniversary year, which is only three months away now.

However, we’ve pretty well established I’ve got issues when it comes to letting my fandom run away with my writing plans, or planning in general.

Playing Taps for Tap

Way back when my wife started talking about us taking dance classes…

Yes, I know, me not being the instigator of the idea must come as quite a shock…

Way back when my wife started talking about us taking dance classes, both tap and ballroom were discussed. She’s always been a fan of tap, and since it’s what I pretend to do when I drop my juggling clubs anyway, a part of me has always felt I should know how.

Short Treks Movies - 6

Star Trek VI

Release Date: December 6, 1991

The Undiscovered Country

A Carnivore’s Guide to Cardiology: Stress Test – The Extended Dance Mix

(Stunt chart, not mine)

Last spring everything checked out at the cardiologist. He told me to track my blood pressure better for a while since it was up, but wasn’t overly concerned because all my other vitals were good. I told him I couldn’t get my weight down as low as I had before, but wasn’t overly concerned because, as Dad said, “Aging sucks but it beats the alternative.” Mostly, we were having our usual conversations about how advancing technology is changing the face of medicine.

I think he enjoys having a patient that actually listens to his directions as much as I enjoy having a doctor that isn’t rushing to get out of the examination room as fast as possible.

Short Treks Movies - 5

Click here for childhoodreasons.

Star Trek V

Release Date: June 9, 1989

The Final Frontier

Why I Don’t Keep a Dream Journal

I still don’t have recurring dreams.

All the “recurring dream concepts” from my childhood (gliding, twisty tree transport, giant bathrooms) still hold true.

This is why, when I exited the ENORMOUS (yet abandoned in February) rest room along the Atlantic City boardwalk I was twitchy and confused for the rest of the day, as I half expected potato aliens to steal my family.

Short Treks Movies - 4

Star Trek IV

Release Date: November 26, 1986

The Voyage Home

ABC's The Muppets

We interrupt the dream stories for this minor question about the new Muppet show.

Short Treks Movies - 3

Star Trek III

Release Date: June 1, 1984

The Search for Spock

Why I Didn’t Keep a Dream Journal

Recurring dreams are a common phenomenon…

Except in my head.

Instead of recurring dreams, I’d have “recurring dream concepts.”

Short Treks Movies- 1 & 2

The Original Crew films were released at the height of my teen aged geekdom, and were the first New Trek I was exposed to as a fan. I’ve blathered on about them before, therefore this time I’m going to focus on connections I noticed to the series while watching them directly after it. I will also continue to follow my insane conspiracy Extra Galactic Invasion Theory to its logical (sorta) conclusion.

The film subtitles work pretty well as “Mom Titles,” and since movies are in our blood, "Mom Titles" would tend to be much more personal for the movie- with references such as "My sister fell asleep at the first warp, woke up at the last, and thought the film was five minutes long" or "Amazingly I had a date for this one during those geeky years." Therefore, I’ll be adding the “Awesome Ending Line" feature. It's not always the final line, especially since that's usually the "space the final frontier" speech. It's the line you carry home with you. Unsurprisingly it is almost always voiced by James T. Kirk.

Star Trek

Release Date: December 7, 1979

The Motion Picture

(See the 2001 Director’s Cut, Aka, “The Finished Version”)

Jeff’s Books to Open Your Mind: The Dinosaur Heresies

A more accurate title for this review would be “books that previously opened Jeff’s mind a little too late,” since most of the key mind opening bits have become common knowledge now.

Or maybe "Dinosaurs and Me: A Love Story"

I was a dinosaur kid.

No, scratch that.

I was THE dinosaur kid.

Short Treks Season Animated 2.2

“Albatross”

Air Date: September 28, 1974

Mom Title: “McCoy Infected a Planet?”

Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes through a Kid’s Eyes

This one veers off topic again, into some parenting recommendations.

Short Treks Season Animated 2.1

Click here for numbers10-6

“The Pirates of Orion”

Air Date: “September 7, 1974

Mom Title: “Sick Spock”

Favorite Joke-(r): List Part Two

Click here for the intro

#5 “World’s Finest” 1990 Mini Series, Dave Gibbons, Steve Rude (CBR #33)

Short Treks Season Animated 1.5

Click here for the introduction

“The Eye of the Beholder”

Air Date: “January 5, 1974

Mom Title: “Psychic Elephant Slugs”

Favorite Joke-(r): List Part One

Before counting down, there’s one more Joker “also ran” that missed my list by the bleached skin of its giggling teeth.

It's J.M. DeMattis and Mark Pajaril’s Day of Judgment follow up in JLA issue 35 (No CBR rating).

Short Treks Season Animated 1.4

Click here for ShortTreks Index

“The Terratin Incident”

Air Date: November 17, 1973

Mom Title: “Shrinking Crew”

Favorite Joke-(r): Introduction

First of all I apologize for being derelict in my duties. I was busy having a long overdue Up the Lake stay and I missed the Ant Man premier. I did see Minions twice because it was hysterical. We finally caught Ant Man and, since Marvel Studios is really good at this, it was awesome - go see it. It showed they can make smaller films and still set them within, and add to, the grand universe the Avengers franchise has established. It was action packed, funny, had some good father-daughter stuff, and highlighted powers (shrinking and ant control) that haven't been done dynamically on the big screen before that was perfect for 3D scenes.

That's all the review there will be for this outing. It isn't less deserving than other movies, its just a timing issue. Marvel may be light years ahead of DC i n film quality, and have even been leading them in comic store offerings for quite a while up until a few new launches.

However, deep down in my soul, I'm still more of a DC guy, and there's an important anniversary for one of their icons that I can't overlook.

To mark the Seventy-Fifth anniversary of the Joker’s debut ComicBookResources.com has done one of their surveys to generate the list of the character’s top Seventy-Five appearances.

Short Treks Season Animated 1.3

“The Magicks of Megas-Tu”

Air Date: October 27, 1973

Mom Title: “Meet the Devil”

Bondlets: For Your Eyes Only

1981

Short Treks Season Animated 1.2

“The Lorelei Signal”

Air Date: September 29, 1973

Mom Title: “Women Take Command of the Enterprise”

Bondlets Index

Wow, there sure are a lot of those James Bond movies.

If only someone would make a single location that linked to all the Kid's Eyes reviews of them spread across this blog.

Oh yeah, I did.

Short Treks Season Animated 1.1

The key question before continuing the episodic review with this series is: “Do these count as cannon?”

The evidence is astoundingly divisive.

Needed: a Sharp(ie) Retort

I need some help forming a proper response.

Short Treks Season 3.9

“All Our Yesterdays”

Air Date: March 14, 1969

Mom Title: “Spock Falls for Mariette Hartley in a Cave”

Index of the Planet of the Apes

Since my Apes posts have been somewhat random and haphazard, and the insane project and vacation filled days of summer are here, it's time for an index of the past and future "Kid's Eyes" look at this fantastic film series.

Short Treks Season 3.8